Travel and Personal Growth: Tiffany Musick Of Compass Travel Coaching On Why & How Traveling Can Help Us Become Better Human Beings
Practice kindness & compassion
Thankfully, the world is open for travel once again. Traveling can broaden our horizons and make space for people to become more open-minded. How can travel give us the opportunity for personal growth? What are some ways that travel can help us become better human beings? As a part of our series about “How Traveling Can Help Us Become Better Human Beings”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tiffany Musick.
Tiffany Musick is an ICF-certified coach and founder of Compass Travel Coaching, where she supports people to use travel as a catalyst for sustainable transformation. She partners with clients to help them better understand their underlying reasons for travel, bring more clarity to their trip planning, navigate travel from a place of deeper reflection and connection with self, and integrate learning from their travel experiences into their lives in meaningful ways. As a seasoned coach and world-traveler, she believes travel is one of the most impactful tools available for personal development, as it not only teaches us about the world, but also leads us to greater understanding of our true selves.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
Of course! I grew up in North Carolina in a family of five as the middle child and only girl. As a kid, I loved to sing and read and be outside and had the idea that I could be as many things as I wanted to be when I grew up. But over time, that idea and the pursuit of things that made me really happy diminished, as it does for a lot of people. I was generally a good kid. I checked all the boxes — good grades, athlete, honors society, etc. — but often doubted myself and felt that most of my achievements were focused on making others happy, rather than feeling really fulfilled internally.
After finishing undergrad, I got married and moved to Southern California with my now ex-husband. I went through marriage and divorce very young, and that’s ultimately what brought a lot of things to the surface for me. It was certainly a challenging period, but some beautiful things came out of it, including a commitment to invest in my personal development and a reconnection with my desire to travel.
What or who inspired you to pursue your career? We’d love to hear the story.
As I mentioned, I got married very young, and the marriage didn’t last. While navigating my divorce, I began doing a lot of work in therapy and learned a lot about myself in the process. I think this is what really inspired me to look at a helping profession, where I could similarly help people navigate transition and the experience of feeling stuck in their own lives. When I learned about coaching, which is different from therapy, I felt an immediate connection with the work. While it doesn’t dive deep into people’s past trauma, it supports people in creating greater awareness and alignment in their lives and moving forward with more clarity and connection with self. I completed my coach training as part of my master’s program and went on to become a certified coach with the International Coaching Federation.
This period of transition also had a big impact on me reconnecting with a deep love and appreciation for travel. As I navigated this difficult season, I began to question a lot about myself and the life I was living. I realized that I had done everything I was “supposed” to do, and my life wasn’t turning out in a way that felt very satisfying. And I began to wonder about the path I was following and whether it was really my own, or if it was a path that was laid out for me that I was following blindly. This was a turning point for me, as I knew I wanted something different, but also realized I didn’t have a model for what “different” could look like. But I had a very strong desire to travel, something I had been interested in earlier in my life, but lost connection with for several years. I felt that by exploring places and cultures and ways of living beyond what I knew, I might be able to piece together a new framework from which to approach my life. And this is really what reignited my love for travel and for using travel as a tool for personal transformation.
I’ve been so fortunate to be able to prioritize travel in my life over the past several years, and it was actually on one of my trips to South America that I began to link my passion for coaching with my passion for travel. While the principles of my coaching work remain the same, I do it with a focus on travel as the primary catalyst and tool for meaningful change.
None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Was there a particular person who you feel gave you the most help or encouragement to be who you are today? Can you share a story about that?
I have received so much help and encouragement over the years, but it hasn’t just been from one person. It’s been a lot of people all playing really important roles throughout the years. My support system has evolved a lot; it has evolved as I have evolved. But generally speaking, my coaching colleagues, mentors and close friends are who encourage me the most in this work and have supported my development, both personal and professional.
It has been said that sometimes our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your career? What lesson or takeaway did you learn from that?
The first time I traveled solo to South America, I went for five months with the primary focus of learning Spanish, in addition to just trying to immerse myself in a new place. I wasn’t completely starting from zero with Spanish, so I thought for sure I would just pick it up, and I had this vision of returning home fluent. It was pretty quickly after starting my Spanish lessons that I realized how much time and effort it takes to actually learn a language! I felt so silly and naive for thinking the path to fluency would happen in the matter of a few months.
This misunderstanding on my end was humbling in a lot of ways and really reaffirmed the importance of traveling slowly. Traveling, like language mastery, isn’t something to be rushed. Can it be done? Sure. But there is so much nuance to it, and I think to really appreciate that, it’s helpful to slow down, enjoy the process and not add more pressure than you need to.
Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Why does that resonate with you so much?
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
This quote is often attributed to Viktor Frankl, psychologist, philosopher and Holocaust survivor; though I don’t know if it’s ever been confirmed that it’s him who actually said it.
I love this quote so much because it’s a reminder that we all have agency in our lives. Though we can’t control all the circumstances of our lives, we can choose how we show up and respond in the midst of those circumstances. We have the power to slow down, notice our internal experiences and then choose a response that aligns with who we want to be. That is immensely powerful. And I think it applies a lot to the travel process. There will inevitably be things that arise as you travel that you can’t control. But you get to choose your words and actions. You get to choose how you pause to process and make meaning of your experiences. And you get to choose how you treat yourself and others.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
I think the shift toward transformative travel is really exciting. People are wanting more out of their travel experiences. They don’t just want to go to new places; they want to return home differently. And I think that presents a really cool opportunity.
I’ve noticed that more travel companies are working to create bespoke, off-the-beaten-path and culturally-immersive experiences, which is amazing. These can be unique catalysts for transformation to occur. But ultimately, transformation is an internal process. There is no experience that’s going to transform me without me going inward to process, reflect and make meaning of that experience.
And I think this is where coaching and the travel industry can work together. So, I’m focused on supporting people through the process of transformation as they are venturing into the world. I work with clients to consider how they can prepare for their trips more intentionally, how they can travel more mindfully and how they can use what they experience to create meaningful change in their lives.
It’s my hope to partner with culturally, socially and environmentally responsible travel companies to provide the resources and support for their customers to experience sustainable transformation. And I think this will bring more value to their clients. Rather than just having the amazing experience, their clients will have someone to help them unpack the experience and explore the question: “What now?”
OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the core focus of our interview about travel and personal growth. Let’s dive deeper into these together. Based on your research or personal experience, why do you think travel can lead to personal growth? Can you share a story?
Anytime we venture out of our comfort zones, open ourselves to new experiences, take on a new challenge or experience discomfort, there is opportunity for growth. It’s all in how we choose to respond to those situations that determine what sort of growth and how much growth we’re going to experience.
Travel is no different. What travel offers is the ability to experience all of these things at once, and it gives us the opportunity to plan to experience these things so we can go into it more alert, aware and prepared.
For me personally, I have found that travel brings a lot to the surface. I go through feeling such a range of things, from awe and inspiration to doubt and loneliness. And it provides these emotional experiences in quantities far greater than what I tend to experience in the comfort of my usual routine. So as these things are coming up, I’m reflecting and processing and constantly learning more about myself and the world.
A recent survey from Psychology Today showed that over 80% of participants found that travel helped them with problem-solving or decision-making. Why do you think this is true for so many people?
I think a lot of this is related to stepping out of our day-to-day routine and inviting new stimuli to provoke creative thinking. If we do the same things over and over, we’re generally going to stay in the same patterns of thinking. But if we’re intentional about trying something new, it’s going to create space and opportunity and circumstances for new mental pathways to be created. And that’s going to allow us to look at problems with a different perspective and explore new possibilities that maybe we hadn’t considered before. We also have the opportunity to witness how other people live, which can help us create a new framework for how we approach things in our own lives. Travel provides us with a lot of new information from many sources, so we have more to work with and pull from when it comes to problem-solving and decision-making.
Do you think travel enhances our mindfulness, optimism, or sense of gratitude? How? Can you please explain with an example or story?
If we want it to, absolutely. I don’t think travel by itself necessarily enhances these things; there’s also choice and an active role we play in whether we become more mindful, optimistic and grateful. But we can certainly use travel as a catalyst, and it can be a pretty powerful one at that. If we’re intentional about how we travel and are seeking more of these things in our lives, there is no shortage of opportunities to cultivate them. It could be through something like marveling at a natural wonder, connecting deeply with a stranger, or observing people who are living different yet profoundly fulfilled lives. Or it could be something as simple as enjoying a great meal, attending a local event or improving a skill, such as learning a new language. Inspiration for all of these things, particularly gratitude, exists in abundance the world over.
Surely not everyone who travels automatically becomes an exemplar of human decency. What are a few reasons why some people completely miss out on the growth opportunities that travel can offer?
This is true; we don’t automatically become better people simply by traveling. The act of traveling can be impactful, but we’re ultimately the ones to decide how and how much we want to allow it to change us. Personal growth is a process, and we hold a lot of responsibility in that process.
If we go into travel with a closed mind or rigid ideas on what we think the experience should be, it’s likely we’re going to reaffirm the same limited mindsets and perspectives we started with. If we’re not making an effort to engage with the local community, learn about the history and culture, and get out of our comfort zone, this can limit what we get out of the trip too. Also, and I think most importantly, if we’re not taking the time to pause and really reflect on what we’re observing and feeling, we may not experience much in the way of growth.
What are your “5 Habits You Should Develop In Order Make Travel Into An Opportunity For Personal Growth?”
- Connect with your why
This habit starts before you leave home, and it’s about pausing to understand why you want to travel to begin with. Connecting with your underlying motive for travel can not only help with the trip-planning process, but can help you travel more mindfully, intentionally and proactively, which means you are likely to get more out of the experience. Before you travel, you can pause to consider questions such as:
- What is it you want to get out of your trip?
- How is that different from what you get out of your normal routine?
- How would you like to show up as you travel? Or what values would you like to embody?
- How would you like to be different when you return home?
2. Adopt a beginner’s mind
The idea of a beginner’s mind is based on Zen teaching, and it’s about letting go of preconceived ideas and instead learning as though you are hearing about a concept for the first time. It taps into a childlike way of being, seeing the world with wonder and fresh eyes and curiosity. With this mindset, the goal is to suspend limited or rigid ways of thinking and adopt the posture of an eager student, ready to explore what life and the world have to teach you. This approach is incredibly useful in travel. As you become acquainted with different people, cultures and customs, you can let go of needing to judge those things and instead lean into genuine curiosity about them. Some ideas for engaging with this sense of curiosity and open-mindedness as you travel are:
- Connecting with local people and organizations to learn more about the history, culture, and way of life.
- Attending local events or taking classes led by people in the community.
- Making an effort to learn and speak the local language.
- Allowing yourself time to wander and explore without a strict itinerary.
3. Slow down
As much as you’re able, try to slow down the pace of your travel. Try to pause and take it all in, rather than rushing through it or trying to cram in as much as possible. As you slow down, consider finding intentional ways to use some of that time. Maybe it’s journaling, deep breathing, meditating, connecting with nature, engaging in meaningful conversation or simply observing what’s happening around you and within you. Pausing is when you’re able to reflect on and begin to make meaning of your experiences, which is what ultimately leads to growth and development. And slowing down is something you can build into your travel itinerary. Some questions to consider are:
- Is there a particular activity or amount of time each day you can use to intentionally slow down and check in with yourself?
- Can you prioritize having some slow mornings or evenings throughout your trip?
- Can you limit how many activities you do each day?
- Would scheduling a couple of larger blocks of time or an entire day for slowing down be helpful?
4. Practice kindness & compassion
This habit applies to how you treat others and yourself as you travel. Leading with kindness and compassion helps you create meaningful connections, stay open and curious, and be more present to your experiences. And showing compassion to others really stems from practicing it with yourself. Many people find self-compassion difficult, especially at first, but it’s particularly useful as you travel. When you’re having a challenging time, try being extra patient and gentle with yourself and take a moment to acknowledge that you’re human. In recognizing your own humanity, you can also recognize it in others and be more thoughtful of your responses, particularly in uncomfortable situations. A few practices you can try to begin to cultivate more self-compassion are:
- Writing self-compassion letters, where you focus on writing to yourself with the same voice you would use when talking with a dear friend.
- Or, if writing isn’t your thing, speaking to yourself with this voice works too. You can do this out loud in a space that feels safe, or you can do it quietly pretty much anywhere.
- Take yourself on a date where you can prioritize intentional time to be alone, do something that feels restorative and enjoy your own company.
- Journal things you feel grateful to yourself for or are proud of yourself for. This could include acknowledging what you’re doing well, what progress you’re making and what you want to continue doing moving forward.
5. Take time to integrate
You have traveled and had an impactful trip… Now what? What do you do with what you’ve learned and experienced? Perhaps you feel like a different person after your trip, but your life at home feels unchanged and maybe not as aligned as it once did. This is where taking some time to reflect and integrate after traveling is so useful. Rather than returning home and quickly defaulting to old patterns or trying to make yourself fit back into the life you had, consider what you want to take with you from your experience. What self-learning from your trip feels really important? And how can you begin to make some small (or big) shifts so that your life better fits who you are now? Identifying even one change in how you spend your time, what you prioritize or how you show up in your life can have a big impact. Any substantial transformation generally begins with small movement, and using the momentum of a trip is a great way to get started. Some questions to consider as you return home are:
- What stands out most about this trip to me? What did I observe or learn about myself that feels important?
- When did I feel most engaged and like the version of myself I want to be?
- When did I feel most reflective and thoughtful? What helped prompt that?
- How would I describe the person I was on this trip? What part of that person would I like to incorporate more in my daily life?
From your experience, does travel have a negative impact on personal growth too? Is there a downside to travel?
Travel can be messy and hard, so if we’re not going into it intentionally and with an attitude of flexibility and curiosity, it can potentially confirm harmful biases or preconceived ideas. It could lead to strengthening current limiting mindsets about the world or other people, or even creating new ones. If we’re not bringing openness to the travel experience, it can potentially turn us off to traveling again or to trying new things in general. In the event that these things do happen, it could not only have a negative impact on our personal growth, but also on the people in our sphere of influence.
There is, of course, also the possibility of having a traumatic travel experience. We do have to be careful to consider safety as we travel and to set ourselves up for success as much as possible, but there is always the possibility that something may happen — just as that risk exists in our day-to-day lives.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them :-)
I would love to sit down and talk with writer Elizabeth Gilbert. I first became acquainted with her work through her book “Eat, Pray, Love,” and it had a big impact on me, as I know it has for many females navigating transition and feeling called to self-exploration through travel. And her book “Big Magic” has inspired me so much in terms of cultivating more creativity in my own life. But beyond that, I really just admire how she is unapologetically herself. She plays by her own rules and seems to have built a life that is marked by deep connection, alignment and enjoyment. Letters From Love, a practice she has been doing for many years and now has created a huge community around, invites people to access the voice of unconditional love for themselves. It’s an incredibly powerful tool for cultivating self-compassion and tapping into inner wisdom, and it has been really impactful in my life and particularly in my travels.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
I will provide a few links below to connect with Compass Travel Coaching, my travel coaching business, and would love to hear from readers who want to reach out. I’m always happy to connect, even if it’s just to swap travel stories!
Thank you for these really excellent insights, and we greatly appreciate the time you spent on this. We wish you continued success.
